Final Frontier
by the-east-hunter
Summary: The problem that the Frontier kids are given is worse, bigger than Ophanimon anticipated. So she does what she has to, she calls for more destined who can help, ones who have been here before. An Adventure/02 kids go to Frontier fic
1. The Call - Joe

**Takes place three years after the events of 02. The Frontier kids will be slightly older than they are in canon, more like teenagers. For those of you wondering what's going on with Hope In Tamers, it's not discontinued or anything, I've been really busy with college lately and been in a Digimon mood. So I thought, why not just work on ideas I have, and get to them when I have the time. **

oOo

It is the distinct screeching sound that draws Joe from his deep sleep, like a fish on a hook it reels him up at a frightening speed from the abyssal realm of black dreams until he breaches the surface and jolts forward in his bed, heart racing and mind instantly awake, running a million miles an hours as it tries to sort out the fact that the sun has yet to sneak out from the horizon, the sky outside of his window black and starless from light pollution. His hands reach towards his alarm clock before he realizes that it is silent, simply displaying the time as 2:00 am. The screeching sound continues. With clumsy tired hands that are still trying to shake off the paralysis of sleep he pries open his desk drawer.

His digivice. It's screen is lit up in a blinding white light that illuminates his room, dragging shadows out impossibly long making them look almost elastic, stretched black sheets of elastic making figures on his wall. The loud screech was unending and Joe's fingers felt around the device, tripped over the buttons until at last it stopped and the light died down to a soft warm glow. The fuzzy shape of a symbol was on the front and Joe reached over and snagged his glasses from his nightstand, putting them on and squinting as the symbol came into focus. It was nothing recognizable, but the fact that it was on his digivice meant that it was important, regardless of the meaning it currently held to him.

"Go to the train station." A voice rang out, and a thrill went up Joe's spine, a spark of warmth filling him. He hurriedly changed out of his pajama's putting on casual clothes and shoes fit for walking, even as his digivice continued to repeat the instruction every few minutes. If his digivice was alive, and giving him instructions, it had to mean that something was going on in the digital world. Or with the Digimon. It meant that finally, after three years of silence, he would get the chance to see Gomamon again. As he stuffed some supplies into his backpack - at least enough for the twelve of them for a little bit, he had to hope the others were as forward thinking - his phone rang. Joe flipped it open and put it up to his ear as he slung his backpack over his shoulders and surged forward, out of his families' apartment and onto the street outside, leaving a lone note on the refrigerator explaining why he was gone assuming he hadn't returned by the morning.

"Hello." Joe said, his feet already taking him the direction of the station.

"Thank goodness - I got Joe!" The voice of Izzy rang back through the phone.

"Izzy, are you with everyone else?" He asked. It was hard to simply walk, and he found himself at an awkward place between walking and running, like at any moment he'd finally give into temptation and take off. He might, the night was still young.

"No, right now it me, Tai, Sora, and Ken." Izzy replied, sounding vaguely out of breath. "TK, Kari, Yolei, and Cody are together. Davis and Matt have also met up." Izzy reported. "No one's gotten in touch with Mimi yet. She's in America though, so her situation might be different." He said thoughtfully, and Joe recognized the sound of Izzy being on the precipice of a chasm full of thoughts and theories. Through the phone he faintly caught the sounds of Tai saying something to the resident computer geek. "Regardless, let me give you the information of where we're meeting up." An address was rattled off and Joe changed his direction, feet immediately knowing where to go. It was near the old apartment buildings they had all grown up in, that fateful night that had changed their lives, and he knew the way well.

"Joe!" He didn't stop his forward momentum, simply slowed down slightly as Davis and Matt crossed the street to join him, all of them running. "You got the memo too?" Davis asked, holding up his digivice just in time for it to repeat 'Go to the train station' in that ethereal feminine voice. Joe gave a jerky nod, voice coming in and out in gasps. They had started running at some point, he couldn't recall when, just that it had happened, their feet hitting the pavement as it marching to a rhythm that only they could hear or feel. The streets were deathly quiet and empty, adding to the unrealistic feeling that the evening (morning?) had.

With exhausted breaths and screaming lungs they came to a stop among the other digidestined, who all seemed significantly much fresher. Many of them wore backpacks similar to Joe's, almost all of the original crew, and everyone seemed to have had the sense to get properly dressed despite the seeming urgency of the call they had each received. Joe wondered how long they had been standing here waiting for them, but he was relieved that they had as his eyes scanned the area.

"The train station…" Matt said in disbelief, voicing the exact thoughts of Joe. Usually the train station was a walk on walk off platform, but somehow it had transformed into something more similar to a metro station or subway tunnels, the digidestined currently standing in front of the mouth of of the station, with stairs leading down.

"Is that new?" Davis asked, peeking over the edge. The other's gave firm shakes of their heads.

"I've never seen it before - I take this station fairly often." TK inserted, and Matt gave a nod. Oh, of course they both probably used this train fairly often in order to visit each other. Joe had to wonder how far Matt had to go in order to meet up with Davis and him. The trains weren't running this late at night. Well, except for theirs it seemed.

"Now that we're all here - we are all here, right?" Tai looked around hasilty, counting them off several times, his eyebrows scrunching together. "I'm getting eleven, who're we missing."

"Mimi, remember?" Yolei said, and from that tone of voice Joe wondered how much frantic counting Tai had been doing to try and make they were all here before taking the next step on whatever journey it was that awaited them.

"Then I guess… it's time to go." Tai said, and Joe noticed how his hand slipped onto Kari's shoulder protectively, his other clenched so tight around his digivice that his knuckles were white.

The undertones of excitement and fear only grew as the digidestined descended into the darkness of the station, and voices were quiet, on edge and fearful. Cody had at some point appeared next to him - the oldest and the youngest digidestined side by side. His small hand crept into Joe's, purposefully not looking in his face, keeping his eyes trained forward and Joe let his own hand closed around Cody's giving it a comforting squeeze. If this was what it appeared to be, they digital world was in danger again. It would be the first time that the second group of digidestined were called back to the digital world. He could remember having to go back after defeating Vamdemon, and the way that it made his stomach clench, knowing that they were facing down something difficult and uncertain. But they were together, and that's what mattered. Cody, so knowledgeable and reliable, would be okay. And if this ended up being an extended stay, well, at least it was summer vacation.

"I would have thought that it would look newer." Ken commented from somewhere in the group. Joe tried to use his height to his advantage and find the kid through the huddle. Now that Ken brought it up, the stairs were already scuffed looking, and there was gum stuck to some, the handrail along the side of the stairs filthy and worn down.

"How strange…" Sora commented, a hand brushing down the side thoughtfully.

The stairwell ended in a wide open, circular platform area with several long lengths of platforms leading out to the side of the ten trains that sat at the station. Joe looked around the space with wide eyes. Light came from somewhere up above but he could discern no light source, and the area behind the trains seemed to go on forever in darkness, as if they led to nothing.

"Please get on a train." The voice rang through all of the digivices in unison, creating an unearthly and chilling effect. Davis let out a frustrated sound.

"_Which_ train, there's like a billion of them."

"Ten, Davis, there's ten." Yolei corrected with an eye roll. Izzy already had a hand on his chin, thoughtfully looking up and down the trains. They were each a different color and style, which would seem to indicated that there was a difference in their destination, if Joe had to guess. Just as He was about to add his own two cents the sound of footsteps came from behind, and the group all jerked around at the noise, years of paranoia and battles making them all a little jittery.

Down the steps came a familiar cowboy booted girl, wearing jeans and a red, tassled leather jacket, signature pink hat atop her head. Mimi stopped before she even reached the bottom of the stairs, staring at the group of digidestined in stunned surprise even as her digivice, held in her hand, politely asked her to choose a train.

"Mimi!" Cody broke the silence, voice still a signature neutral but with surprised undertones. "I thought you were in New York."

"I am." Mimi replied, and glanced behind her back up the stairs. "Or… I was." She said, letting her voice drop off in awe. Through the corner of his eye he saw Sora rush forward, and with the reverie and surprise shattered the rest of the digidestined followed suit, enveloping Mimi in a collective group hug. Words of enthusiasm and thankfulness flowed out of mouths, becoming a mottled and unintelligible thing. Joe could feel a sense of 'rightness' and calm come over him as at last their group was whole.

He understood and supported Mimi living in America, but things just never felt quite right when they were too spread out, and without the digiports being able to gather all in one place on either side of the globe was simply an expensive affair. Judging from the faces and words of the others, they felt the same, and with Mimi here, the tenseness of the situation seemed to melt away slightly.

"So, we have to choose a train?" She asked as she looked around the platform.

"There's so many ways to split it." Izzy said thoughtfully, pulling out a notebook from his backpack and beginning to write down everyone's names, and Joe could swear he could see straight through Izzy's eyes to the wheels turning in his head. "We could separate it by DNA partners… but not everyone has a DNA partner. Crest bearers could go with the younger digidestined who share their same crests… Technically we can each take one and I suppose Matt and TK could go together, same for Kari and Tai."

"You're overthinking this." Sora said, coming forward. "The digital world wouldn't call us here if there was a 'wrong' choice, and why would they call us all here together if they didn't want all of us? I say we all get on one train. We're a team, we go together." She said the worlds confidently with a sense of finality to them, and Joe found himself nodding along. The idea of going alone terrified him, and while the crests might have made a good plan, what would they do with Ken? And putting the people with similar or compatible crests together wouldn't get much in the way of a variety of inputs and ideas. There were eight crests for a reason. Twelve digidestined for a reason.

Looking up he could see the rest of the group nodding along to the line of reasoning, Izzy looked panicked for a moment, as if the thought of leaving the other trains unsolved would split his brain. But he closed his eyes, took a few measured breaths, and opened them again only when they shone with resolve and peace. Joe looked at the other digidestined fondly, as if seeing him for the first time in a while, mature and growing. Able to deal with his anxiety already better than Joe.

"So which one are we picking then?" Kari asked, looking at the various trains. Matt scoffed.

"The blue one." He said.

"The orange one." Tai countered, and instantly playful competition rose between the two, lighthearted bickering between the two and they weighed the pro's and cons of each train.

Joe began to walk around the platform, walking to look in through the windows of the different trains. Even the insides were different and distinct, with different patterns and styles of seats.

"What's wrong?" Mimi asked, coming up next to him, easily reading the disappointment on his face.

"I don't know, I guess I kind of was hoping that our digimon would be waiting for us in one of them." He admitted, adjusting the straps of his backpack. Mimi sighed and nodded her head in understanding.

"I understand. Even though it's been years, most mornings I still look down for Palmon's advice on my outfit for the day, before remembering that she's gone." Mimi's hand inched out and curled around Joe's numb fingers and gave a gentle squeeze before parting again. "But we're going to them." She held up her digivice, even as it relayed the same message again. "We're close."

"We've decided!" Tai yelled, his voice calling Joe, Mimi, and the other digidestined that had meandered off back to the rest of the group. Next to him Izzy was nodding his head solemnly and while Tai wore a small frown, so did Matt. So neither of them had won. "We're going on the pink train."

"The least interesting one." Matt grumbled. Kari and Ken both looked very proud of themselves, the two digidestined with pink crests. Of course. A smile tugged at Joe's lips.

First the younger digidestines boarded, and then the senior group after them, Tai going last and counting everyone as they went on, careful not to have someone wander off and get left behind. The interior of the pink train was warm, with wooden floors and seats carved with flowers. Nice light blue cushions were on each seat, and the with a glance Joe could see that there were several other train cars in front of them, providing them with plenty of room to spread out.

As Tai boarded the clothes automatically closed behind him and the light died from each digivice. Seeming to come from somewhere above them, the same female voice rang out.

"The trip may take some time, a long journey is ahead of it. Thank you, digidestines, for answering the call." Cody, Yolei, and Matt were standing on the back of the train, watching as it drew away from the station, entering the darkness that lay before them. Nervously, Joe pushed the buttons of the digivice. It was as dead as ever, gave no readouts of Gomamon. He frowned but didn't despair. He repeated Mimi's words to himself. They were so close.

oOo

Somewhere, deep in the digital world, a small group of teens get a message, an ethereal feminine voice, the same that drew them here in the first place.

Help, it assures, is coming.

oOo

**I hope you enjoyed, thanks for reading!**


	2. The Ride - Yolei

Excitement was a familiar thrum in Yolei's veins. Or maybe that was just the thumping of her heart, so fast and loud that it seemed to block out anything else. She could tell her cheeks were flushed from the rush of blood - her heart overcompensating for the adrenaline funning through her veins, and yolei lifted her hands and pressed them to her face, trying to get the cold fingertips to absorb the heat.

Not a day had gone by where she didn't miss Hawkmon. Before her foray into the digital world, Yolei had always felt confident in her self. It was something that was required with the family she grew up with, in order to not feel lost between her siblings and her parents focus on keeping the store running. But meeting Hawkmon made her realize that until the moment when she had shared a heart with him, feeding off of one another's energy and causing him to digivolve, previous to that she had only ever been half of a person. And then when he was gone, how hard it was to go back to how things used to be, now acutely aware of what she was missing.

"How long do you think the train ride is going to be?" Cody asked, standing next to her. Almost none of the others had taken a seat next, the same restlessness clearly coursing through all of them. That being said, she could see Kari sitting down on one of the seats, eyes beginning to droop as the fact that it was 2 am caught up to her.

"We're going to investigate the other train cars." Davis announced, standing next to Tai, Matt, and Sora. Yolei and TK both hurried over, and Yolei shared a bright smile with the digidestined of hope.

"Be careful you guys!" Joe said frantically, seeming to try to decide whether or not to accompany them. Nearby Ken shook his head lightly and placed a hand on Joe's shoulder.

"Relax Joe, they're digidestined, they're fully capable." He soothed and then gave Davis a motion with his hands, as if telling the small group to go before Joe tried to give them a whole bag of supplies just to check out the other train cars. Davis sent back a broad smile and a thumbs up as they proceeded through the doors.

The next few train cars were almost perfect replicas of the first one they had entered, until they finally arrived at a train car with several large tables, all full of food. Yolei was on them in a second, grabbing a particularly delicious looking mini cupcake a stuffing it into her mouth. Tai was grabbing some turkey and placing it on a fancy looking porcelain plate, smothering it in gravy.

"Dude, I'm going to go grab the others!" Davis exclaimed, disappearing back down to the previous train cars.

"Don't eat anything yet TK." Matt said warily, eyeing the food and placing in arm in front of his younger brother.

"Matt, I think it's fine. Why would it be poisoned?" TK asked, but Matt was unyielding.

"We can't be sure."

"You have _got_ to relax Matt." Tai said derisively through a mouth full of mashed potatoes. "It's free food."

"I guess we could wait a few hours and see if you or Yolei die." Matt said, and next to him TK coughed in a way that made it clear he was covering up a small laugh.

"Hey!" Yolei said, holding a warm pretzel in her hands. "Just because I know when to seize an opportunity is no reason to be so mean." The sound of footsteps announced the approach of the other's and the door behind Yolei slid open. Immediately she heard the sound of Joe squawking like a undignified bird before rushing forward.

"This food should not be eaten! It could have anything in it, poisoned, uh… illusionary."

"Is illusionary food really a concern?" Davis asked, raising an eyebrow. In sync all of the older batch of digidestined replied with a loud 'yes' and Yolei raised an eyebrow.

"Remember what Sora said about there's no reason why the digital world would bring us all if they didn't want us all." Yolei said exasperatedly. "I figure it's the same thing with this. There's no reason it would give us food just to kill us. Or if we didn't need it." She reasoned, and Sora patted Joe on the back.

"Look Joe, we appreciate your concern for us. But we do all have the ability to use logic." Joe bent his head down in defeat.

"I guess you guys are right."

"Although, this does present a rather concerning question." Izzy said as several of the other Digidestined began to eat. "If the digital world thought that we would need food… how long does it think we're going to be here?" The group grew quiet at that, and Yolei put down her food, find whirring at the implications. Just how long was this train ride going to be? She hurried to the previous train cars, opening the overhead luggage areas. Blankets and pillows fell out onto the floor, and she felt her heart sink a little. Maybe she wasn't quite as close to seeing Hawkmon as she had initially anticipated.

"Holy Sh-" Matt slapped his hand over Mimi's mouth before she finish the swear. Yolei couldn't help but to think that Matt shouldn't have bothered - they were all thinking it.

"Well." Tai said, looking at the blankets, glancing back at the food. "It looks like we're here for the long haul folks."

oOo

There was no way into the engine room, and no way to determine how long the trip was going to be. Yolei had to hope it wasn't relative to the amount of food in the dining car, because if that was the case they would be here for weeks, months even.

The digidestined were doing their best to find ways to burn the time. Some of them had participated in a contest of seeing who could eat the spiciest items in the food car. In one of the train cars there was an assortment of games getting played. Not that anyone had a ton of gaming supplies on them - it wasn't really the survival type thing that was typically brought to the digital world - but Davis and Sora both had a few decks of cards they had in their backpacks. Some people were playing slumber party games like the whodunnit style game Werewolf. Yolei would be the first to admit that she let herself get perhaps a little too heated during the games, but Davis and herself were just too good at goading each other on and stoking one another's flames. Several times they had to be forced to play different games just to try and maintain a semblance of peace. . Pretty much anything to try and make time go faster and take everyone collective minds off of their excitement and worry.

Izzy participated in a few games, but he was mostly off to the side, tapping away on his laptop, seeming to become more and more agitated as the hours ticked by. Eventually he excused himself to the caboose train car. After a few looks at the digidestined currently in what had been dubbed the game car Tai followed, and Yolei watched him go.

Most of the group had spread out through the different train cars as the night progressed, the view from the windows showing the navy tones of an evening sky. Yolei had taken to the caboose of the train, the same one that Tai and Izzy had holed up in. They weren't talking, in fact both boys were on opposite sides of the car. Tai had fallen asleep in what looked like an incredibly uncomfortable position, slumped over one of the tables, head pillowed by a blanket, and hand loosely holding his digivice. At some point someone had draped a blanket over his body which Yolei had to assume was Izzy's doing. Izzy himself was still intently focused on his computer, eyebrows scrunched together. Yolei had walked out the back door leaning up against the railing and looking out at the endless sky that stretched out behind them. Down below there was no land, and the light from the moon glinted on the single straight rail that the train car rode on. A scattering of stars shone like diamonds scattered across a dark cloth. Yolei had been out here for an hour or so, just watching, and yet nothing seemed to change.

Reaching into her pocket, Yolei pulled out her digivice, pushing the buttons a few more times. She had seen the others doing the same over the past twelve or so hours. It felt like they had been on this train for ages and yet like no time had passed. It didn't truly seem like they were making progress, and part of Yolei couldn't help but to wonder if they would be on this train forever, growing older and older and dying here. Or even worse, if they were truly in the digital and they never aged. A train not just to purgatory, but a train that was to purgatory.

But if there was any chance this train ride might end, that it might bring her back to Hawkmon… then it would be worth it. Even if she was wrinkled and old with graying hair by then.

A yawn escaped her mouth and Yolei felt her eyelids begin to droop. Maybe she should tuck in for the night. Most of the other's had when she had last walked through the other cars, and if their estimates were right it would be some time before the train stopped. Yolei straightened up and stretched her arms, beginning to turn around when a dark shape caught her attention from the corner of her eye. She twirled herself around, leaning over the railing and serachin with desperate eyes into the darkness that loomed below them.

Just as Yolei was about to write it off as nothing she saw it again - some kind of massive creature, hard to make out as it's lines seemed to get lost in the darkness, making it hard for Yolei to even estimate a size. When it flew by again, causing so much of a breeze that Yolei had to reach out and snatch her bandana out of the air before it fell off into the void below she knew they were in trouble.

Yolei slammed open the door to the caboose car, opening her mouth to shout at Izzy and Tai, but anything she could have said was drowned out by the loud and ear splitting screech the seemed to echo from all around, vibrating her rib cage and making Yolei have to let go of the door frame, hands desperately curling around her ears.

The train was shaking under her feet, and she saw Tai wake up with a snap, eyes wide and panicked. Izzy was forcing his laptop into his backpack as fast as he could, slipping back on his shoes that he had taken off, looking with wary eyes out the window.

"What the heck is that?!" Tai exclaimed as the shadow passed the windows on Tai's side of the train car.

"Yolei, get inside!" Izzy rushed over and grabbed one of Yolei's arms, tugging her in a not giving her an option. She was thankful, her legs were shaking so much she wasn't entirely sure on her ability to move at this point. The lights that had illuminated the train car were flickering, and Yolei could see Tai running to the other train car door, flinging it open with such force that it bounced.

A loud crash echoed from somewhere closer to the front.

The distance between the caboose car and the other in front of them had grown - someone or something had cut through the area that connected them. Yolei and Izzy hurried over to Tai's side. The wind was whipping at his crazy hair and he had put on his goggles, one hand holding onto the frame, the other reaching forward. Stretched out.

There was another crash from somewhere, and Yolei saw one of the other train cars flung off the rail, falling down into the abyss. The shadow was coming back to their train car.

She couldn't see who was in the other train car too many yards in front of them for any of them to try and make a leap, except for one.

Kari.

Kari with her straight her whipping around her face, and tears in her eyes. And she's frightened, so frightened. Yolei's mind is almost blank, it's her DNA Digivolution partner, and she isn't there to help her.

"Tai!" Most of the scream is lost in the wind, but Yolei recognizes the way that Kari's lips form the word. Like she does when she talks about how proud she is of Tai for working so hard in college. When she's berating him for not doing the dishes. Said with a fond tone when she talks about how he and their mother went out for dinner, to try and help her get through the anniversary of Wizardmon's death.

But this isn't right, to see the word torn from her this way. And Tai leans all the more forward. Izzy wraps his arms around Tai's waist, holding him back from falling over the side to the end of the world.

And then there is another screech and this time it hits their train car. The squeal of the wheels before they are completely torn from the track. Tai and Izzy reach out and snatch her in the air as the train car around them begins to fall like a star down into the darkness below. Her throat hurts so bad - how long has she been screaming.

In one of her hands, Yolei still holds her digivice, and desperately pleads for Hawkmon to come and save them. Her partner, who's never let her down before. In her hand, it feels hot, and she can feel it reshaping itself, glowing brighter and brighter, until it seems to swallow Yolei in it's bright white light.

oOo

**Let me know what you think! Reviews help to motivate me to keep going!**


	3. The Crash - Mimi

**Hey guys, sorry it's been a while. I had most of this written and then corona struck and with it went a lot of my motivation, but someone left a really nice comment and I decided to continue onwards! So here we go! **

Mimi's bones ached deeply. Even just thinking of moving seemed to hurt, and she instantly wanted nothing more then to cuddle further under her comforter and ignore the rising of the sun outside of her window. Except there was no comforter, no mattress below her, only hard ground and the tickle of grass against her face.

That was plenty to wake Mimi up, her eyes snapping open and trying to adjust to the harsh light of the afternoon sun. She was in a rather unpleasant heap at the base of a tree, several pieces of wood cracked and broken, pink paneling from the train, even a wheel, spread out around her. Sitting up Mimi did a quick once over on herself, assessing the damage. It looked like he had a lot of scratches from probably falling through the tree, but luckily other than that she seemed okay. But the train… she glanced up and wished she could have said she was surprised that the tree had managed to hold almost the entirety of the train up. While it was in pieces, most of the interior car looked like it had been split into two halves. Mimi stood up, and dusted herself off.

"Kari!" She yelled out, cupped her hands to her mouth. "Cody?!" Mimi wracked her brain for who else had been in their train car, but she was relatively sure it was just the three of them, Her head went from one side to the other, trying to find any evidence. She looked at the impossibly large flowers and overgrown foliage and then, almost hesitantly, called out again. "...Palmon?"

There were no replies to her shouts, so she fixed her eyes up the tree to the train car, cracked her knuckles, and began climbing. She was glad she had dressed more for practicality rather than for cuteness (although surely she was doing both at the same time). About halfway to where the the train car was she took a rest on a thick branch, wiping her brow. It was humid and hot here, making her feel sticky. She took a deep breath and continued the rest of the way up, trying not to dwell too long on the memories that flitted through her head. Of watching the other train cars being torn from the track, flying out in the abyss, until only their car was left. Kari sobbing into her shoulder after watching Tai be torn away. Cody huddled close, trembling and silent. How she had kept her eyes trained on the windows, watching the dark shadow of something circle around them until finally it barreled into the side of the train car.

Finally she stood at the opening into one of the train cars. Each step Mimi took inside of the train was cautious, the ground creaking underneath her. There was no sign of life, at least in this half of the train car, but she did find her back pack, the zipper having luckily held strong. She grabbed it and tossed it around her shoulders, and then almost as an afterthought grabbed several of the pillows of blankets.

Carefully she walked from one half of the train car to the other one, having to cross some more branches to reach it. She tossed the blankets and pillows down below as she went, freeing her hands for more climbing. Again she walked down the destroyed train car, looking down each seat. She had come looking for something, but couldn't help the gasp that came from her mouth when she actually found it.

Splayed between two seats like a ragdoll thrown onto the ground by a petulant child was Cody, his hair askew and scratches all over, particularly a nasty one on his head that had crusted over and turned a dark shade of maroon. In a small circle around him was what appeared to be a floating barcode which couldn't be good, but was not something that Mimi was going to worry about at this exact moment.

"Cody!" She cried, hurrying forward and kneeling next to him, cradling his head in her arms. He was so young, so small, he had to be okay. Mimi lightly patted his face, biting her lip as she desperately tried to awaken him. The barcode around him faded into nothingness as she stirred, making a few noises, eyebrows scrunching up before his eyes opened, locking onto Mimi's face.

"Mimi…" He muttered, and closed his eyes again for a moment, taking a few steady breaths.

"Oh thank goodness Cody. Are you okay?" Mimi fretted as Cody got his arms beneath him, propping himself up. His breaths continued to come in deep and even, intelligent eyes scanning the surroundings.

"I- I think so. I think I could use a hand getting up though." She kneeled down and helped him get to his feet, and while at first his legs shook it didn't take long for him to steady himself. He had also brought a pack with him which was still securely around his shoulders, and while he glanced around the train car making sure that nothing important had fallen out, Mimi finished looking around so see if Kari was there.

The answer was no, and an iron pit formed in her stomach.

"We should probably get down." Cody said as the train car groaned beneath his feet, looking over the edge.

"Do you think you're be able to climb?" Mimi asked hesitantly, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"I don't think I have much of a choice." He replied, licking his lips once or twice as he sized up the distance.

"I'll go first." Mimi offered, and Cody gave a calm nod. "Pay attention to where I put my hands and feet. We'll take it down to… that branch." Mimi gestured to a large sturdy branch about halfway down. "And then we'll go the rest of the way from there."

The process was slow going, and several times Mim had to climb back up the tree after Cody to help steady him through certain portions of the climb. It looked like he hurt on his head, while not serious, had left him light headed. Eventually Mimi took his pack from him, took the breakables into her own bag, and tossed it the rest of the way down the tree, where it landed on the previously thrown pillows and blankets. But, after some trial and error, the pair of them made it. Cody sat heavily on the ground, leaning himself up against a tree and taking even breaths.

"Are you going to be okay?" Mimi asked for the fifth time in as many minutes. Cody, just like every single time, gave a firm nod.

"I'm fine, just out of breath is all." His eyes wandered around the small spot where Mimi had woken up. "Where's Kari?" Mimi bit her lip, looking off to the side.

"I'm not sure, I haven't been able to find her yet, but I also can't leave you here alone like this…" Cody rose to his feet and reached for some of the large leaves and flowers, carefully taking a pocket knife from his pack and using it to cut them, placing them over their supplies.

"Now we don't have to worry about things getting stolen." Cody said, facing Mimi. "We search for her together." A protest was on Mimi's tongue, inching its way across her lips, but she bit down on it quickly when Cody gave her something that approached a glare. Perhaps TK's stubbornness had rubbed off on him, them being friends as well as Jogress partners and all that.

"We'll find her." Mimi says, channeling all the willpower and sureness into her voice as possible, and Cody nods back at her, determination flashing in his eyes.

oOo

"Hey guys!" Tommy shouts, and the was the sound of footsteps as his companions ran over. "Should we be worried about that?" He points and the rest of the digidestined follow the direction of his fingers to the crashed train car in the distance, smoke still rising from the wreckage.

**Thanks for reading! Leave a comment if you enjoyed the chapter. I hope to get around to writing more but I am very busy with college and most of my writing time these days goes towards my novel or the podcast I'm writing. **

**you can check me out on tumblr as the-east-art**


	4. The Protector - Sora

Sora glanced over as Davis muttered the name in his sleep, tossing and turning. She knew he couldn't be very comfortable in the makeshift bed she had put together for him, comprised over the emergency blanket she had packed in her backpack and her jacket used as a makeshift pillow for him, but the discomfort didn't wake him. She sat with her back up against as tree, knees tucked up close to her face, eyes scanning the small area where they had landed.

The creature - she wasn't even entirely sure it was a Digimon - that had attacked the train had come so suddenly, so quickly, she had scarcely had time to properly react. Only thinking of reaching and grabbing Davis - younger and therefore one she was in charge of protecting - and had held him close to her in an attempt to shield the boy from whatever might strike. From the corner of her eye she could see Matt trying to make his way over to them right as the train fell off the rails. With no hands to hold onto the inside Sora and Davis had flown out into the abyss, only having one another to hold onto.

Something had saved them.

She wasn't sure what it had been, but there had been warmth from somewhere and then a whoosh and beat of wings before she had lost her consciousness. She had no way of telling how long it had been before she had woken up, but however long was quicker than Davis, whose face was starting to become flush and she was beginning to fear a fever was settling into his system.

It had been a long time since Sora had felt so out of her element in the digital world. It was like she was small once again. A child. Lost and uncertain. Her digivice had long left a deep imprint in her closed fist buttons digging into the skin. But this time there was no one waiting for her. No guide to show her the way. Now it was just her and Davis and the occasional moving of something from the trees, from the swamp, from the sky, that made her nearly jump out of her skin.

Davis groaned again, eyebrows knit together in pain.

They couldn't stay here forever.

Sora cast one last look at her digivice in her hand before clipping it onto her belt and heaving herself into a standing position. They needed help. Or at least proper safety. She bent down and did her best to heave Davis onto her back. The boy was fit, but he also had that special kind of fast metabolism only boys like him seemed to have, leaving him with lean muscles and little fat on his body. If anything, she was surprised with how little he weighed. She ended up having to swing her backpack around so that it was worn on her front like some kind of protective gear, and though it made her feel silly it was practical and it wasn't like anyone else was around to see it.

Sora picked a direction, and started to walk.

The air was more humid than she would have liked, and the ground damp and slick beneath her tennis shoes. She gave a small huff and adjusted Davis on her back even as she could feel the sweat beginning to form and drip down her brow. An after or so later, she heard the screams.

Quickly, Sora turned around and put Davis down as gently as she could, wincing as his head hit the edge of a tree. She turned around to face the rest of the forest in front of them, armed and ready. A distant rumbling grew louder and louder in sound until finally, dozens of pink figures burst out from the underbrush, all crying out in a panic.

Her heart clenched the moment she saw and recognized the digimon. Yokomon.

But there was no time to dwell on her heartache, or stare at each of them and see if any could possibly be her Yokomon. Out from the woods roared a Snimon, brandishing it's two sickles and slicing right through a Yokomon, sending the small one's data flying into the air.

It would probably be safer to follow the Yokomon, but Davis couldn't exactly run. And even if she picked him up with him combined weight there was no way she could hope to outrun the Snimon. Sora did the only thing she could do, and stood her ground.

None of them had thought to bring protective gear with them, or defensive gear, or weapons of any kind. None of them had thought to. She was sure they had all assumed they wouldn't be alone to face this without their other halves.

Distantly, part of Sora wondered if the rest of them had found their partners, leaving only her and Davis defenseless.

No time to feel sorry for herself.

Sora glared down the Snimon and stuck her arms out wide to block his pathway.

"Stop!" She shouted at the digimon, who roared back at her, hissing and spitting. Fear rose up from her stomach, and she cast a glance back at Davis, still laying dormant on the ground. He was so young, laying unconscious like that. Hsi face soft with youth. Her heart clenched. And another feeling rose up to replace the terror, something warm and fierce and protective all at once. Behind her, the Yokomon continued to scream. Behind her, Davis' device shone.

Sora reached down and grabbed her digivice and held it in her hand, feeling it growing hot and shifting in her hand, molding into something else. On it's screen, the crest of love glowed brightly and a bright light shot out of it went into the sky, going somewhere. And when the beam died down it didn't fully leave. It stayed on the end of her digivice like a long rope. Or a whip. Sora looked up and stared at the Snimon, and with one determined wave of her struck out her digivice, letting the bright beam lash out and snap in the air.

The Snimon cried out and recoiled. Sora snapped it again, taking a bold step forward. This Snimon would not get past her, and it would not hurt anymore Yokomon.

It took a beat and seemed to deem Sora too big of a hassle to deal with and turned around, disappearing back the way it had come. Behind her something shifted, and then there was a voice.

"That was pretty badass."

"Davis!" She cried out as she turned to look at the younger boy,his eyes open and exhaustion clear on his face but awake. Actually awake. The moment of tension gone, the red whip on her digivice disappeared. Sora couldn't help herself but to go in for a big hug, wrapping her arms around him.

"Where is everyone?" Davis asked, voice slightly muffled as he spoke into Sora's shoulder. Sora squeezed him tighter, fear edging in once again.

"I don't know. When I woke up… I was all alone."

"Well," Davis said, backing away enough so that she could see his face, smile radiant. "...you're not alone anymore."

"Did you really take care of the Snimon?" A small, hesitant voice asked. Sora turned her head and looked down to see a small Yokomon gazing up at her. It sniffled a little, eyes slightly red from crying, and made a small attempt to peer around Sora to see if the threat was truly gone. It looked so much like her Yokomon… She thought of waking up, those wonderful few weeks years ago when they had let their partners stay with them for Christmas. Opening her eyes to see that cheerful and bright grin looking back at her. Sora couldn't stop herself from reaching forward, wanting to gently touch those petals. The Yokomon flinched away from her touch, and Sora was brought back to the present.

"Yes. It's gone. For now, at least."

At those words a sudden cacophonous noise erupted from behind her in the tree line and the Yokomon as one all spilled out and hefted Sora and Davis up, cheering. Davis looked tired still, deep bags under his eyes, and surprised at whatever was going on. Sora just felt her heart warm.

The enthusiasm slowly diminished from the crowd and they set Sora and Davis back down. Davis looked at Sora with a small smile, eyebrows raised.

"What have you been up to while I was out?" Sora opened her mouth to reply when she realized that there was quiet but urgent whispering among the small Digimon around them. After a moment a singly Yokomon was shoved forward towards Sora - she recognized it as the one that had talked to her just a moment ago. It looked shyly at the forest floor and then raised it's big eyes to Sora pleadingly.

"We would like your help in traveling back to our home." It said, softly at first and then with rising confidence. "The Snimon and his goons chased us out a week ago. But maybe if he was scared off the other's will retreat too."

"I don't know if it works like that…." Sora said, worrying her bottom lip. She wasn't sure she could replicate the whip trick, she wasn't sure how she'd done it in the first place, and the idea of the Snimon having friends meant they were almost surely still there.

"We just want to go home…" Another Yokomon said from somewhere in the ranks, flower bobbing up and down.

"Of course we'll help you!" Davis said, standing up an seeming to regain a small amount of energy. "We're the Digidestined! We keep the world in balance. Both in the grand sense and for the little guys!" He said it with such confidence in his voice, reassuring the small and frightened Digimon. Children. Yokomon were children really. Sora found herself nodding along.

"But first we should make camp." She declared, looking at the way Davis listed a little to the side. "I think we all could use some time to regroup."

Hours later, the sun had set deep in the sky and completely disappeared bringing with it the darkness of the night. Sora and Davis had made a series of small fires, and most of the Yokomon were happily tucking in for the night around the warm embers. Sora walked over to take a seat next to Davis who was sitting off to the side, the few Nyokimon of the group having nestled themselves around him. Baby Digimon were always drawn to him.

"He's not here." Davis said, voice kept quiet and careful. His one free hand held his digivice. Sora watched as he pressed a button and received no response, much like she had been doing hours ago.

"He's here." She replied, trying to cover up her own doubts. "If he was gone, you would have felt something."

"But if he's here wouldn't I know?" He replied back. Not hostile, not hotly, just matter of factly. Sadly. As he stared up at the stars. No recognizable constellations. This was the digital world after all.

"We wouldn't have been brought here if they didn't need us. And we're all only half of ourselves without our Digimon. They're here. You guys had to find them the first time. We just have to find them again." She said, and Davis nodded lightly, the crease of worry between his eyebrows remained. Sora reached over and gently pulled his head onto her shoulder, carding her hands through his hair. "You should get some sleep."

"If anyone needs sleep here it's you." Davis said, but a long, stretched out yawn followed.

"I'll take first watch. Something's really taken it out of you, and tomorrow we have a long day of walking." Sora waited for Davis' usual quick response, but instead his breathing had evened out as he slipped back into sleep.


End file.
